Necktie



Nov. 27 1923. E. P. ADAMS NECKTIE Filed March 15. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M abkozueqy Nov. 27 1923.

E. P. ADAMS NECKTIE Filed March 15. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 27, 1%23.

UNITED ST TES ELwiN P. ADAMS, or JACKSGNVILLE, rnonrna.

NECKTIE.

Application filed March 15, 1922. SeriaLNo. 543,950.

To aZ-Zuw/wm it may concern:

Be it known that l, Enwin P. AoAMs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jacksonville, in the county of Duval and State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Neckties, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in articles of neckwear and more particularly to an improved necktie and supporting and retaining means therefor.

It is a well known fact that the repeated tying and untying of four-in-hand and bow ties soon results in a wearing out of the portion of the tie in which the knot is usually formed thus rendering the tie unfit for further wear although its remaining portions may be intact. Also the tying of such ties consumes considerable time and, for many, is not an easy task. lVhile various forms of ties have been placed upon the market in initially and permanently tied condition and provided with means adapting them to be readily supported upon and separated from the front collar button, nevertheless such ties are not acceptable to many for the reason that their appearance renders it quite obvious that they were not tied by hand. Therefore it is one of the primary objects of the present invention to provide a tie and supporting and retaining means therefor all so constructed and arranged that the tie may be placed upon the market in an initially tied or untied condition and may thereafter be tied by the purchaser to suit his individual tastes after which tying it may be permitted to remain in this condition for an indefinite period of time, means being provided, as in the articles referred to, adapting the tie to be readily applied to and separated from the front collar button and the collar attached thereto, the tie at all times presenting the appearance of being tied by hand and displaying the individual tastes of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the supporting and retaining means for the tie that the members comprising the tie may be readily separated therefrom when it becomes desirable to clean the tie and press the same; or, the tie members may be separated from the supporting and retaining means and other tie members substituted therefor so that the said supporting and retaining means may be employed in connection with any number of designs and colors of ties.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the supporting and retaining tied to constitute a four-in-hand tie or a bow tie.

Ordinarily, in a made up tie, and particularly those of the four-'in-hand type, the knot formed in the tie is substantially rigid with relation to the wing members which are engaged beneath the folds of the collar, and the knot will therefore assume a more or less stilt and rigid appearance unlike that presented by the ordinary four-in-hand tie when tied by hand. Therefore it is another important object of the invention to so construct the supporting means for the tie members or sections that when the knot is tied it may have a desired latitude of front and rear movement with relation to the wings of the said means and will therefore present identically the same appearance as the ordinary four-in-hand one piece tie.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the tie embodying the invention in tied condition, the View looking at the front of the tie;

Figure 2 is a similar view looking at the rear side of the tie;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the tie, the members comprising the same being untied;

Figure 4. is a similar View illustrating the first step to be followed in knottingthe members of the tie;

Figure 5 is a similar View illustrating a further step;

Figure 6 is a rear elevation of the supporting and retaining means;

Figure 7 is a front elevation of said means;

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the said means; and

Figure 9 is a detail vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

The article embodying the invention comprises a pair of tie members and a supporting and retaining means with which the members are separably assembled and which constitutes in effect a form about and upon which the members are to be tied or knotted,

in the illustrated embodiment, in the form of a four-in-hand, or in a modified arrangement, in the form of a bow tie. The supporting and retaining means is indicated in general by the numeral 1 and the same is substantially of frame-like structure and has its component parts formed of wire or sheet metal. The said means comprises an intermediate or body member indicated in general by the numeral 2 and preferably formed from a sheet metal blank and 001m prising a web 3 which, in the use ofthe article occupies a substantially vertical plane and which is provided at its opposite ends with extensions 4 directed upwardly and laterally in opposite directions and formed to provide substantially flat sided sockets 5 which are open at their ends and are disposed at the rear side of the web 3.' The retaining or attaching member of the article is indicated is general by the numeral 6 and the same is preferably formed from a single length of resilient wire, the wire being bent to provide a kerf or clip member '7 engageable over the shank of the collar button upon which the member 1 is to be supported, the side portions of the said wire being extended upwardly and later ally in opposite directions to provide arms 8 the end portions of which are bent back upon themselves as at 9 and have their ex- 'tremities bentto form hooked terminals 10. The back bent portions 9 are spaced with relation to the main portions of the arms 8 and these zortions of the arms are adapted to be fitted into the sockets 5 with the hooked terminals 10 engaging over the upper sides of the'said sockets as best shown in Figures .6 and '9 of thedrawings. The wire from which the member 6 is formed, being resilient, the end portions of the arms will of course be adapted to fit snugly within the sockets 5 and thus be frictionally retained in "such engagement, although by bringing together the relatively adjacent flat sided, and the back bent portions 9 of the arms may be disengaged from the sockets and. the member 6 thus separated fromthe member 2 to permit of knotting of the tie member or sections about the supporting means as a whole. l urthermore inasmuch as the sockets 5 are substantially flat sided, and the back bent portions 9 or the arms 8 are spaced from the said areas and located in a plane therewith, the member 6 is restrained against any swinging play and on the other hand is retained in position parallel and close to the member 2. Therefore when the kerf or clip portion 7 is engaged with the collar button shank, the body member 2 will be substantially rigidly supported. Preferably the member 221s well as certain other members which are associated therewith, namely the wing members to be presently described, is curved from end to end so that it will conform more or less closely to the curved shape which will be assumed by the front of the collar when applied.

The wing members referred to above are indicated in general by the numeral 11 and they are preferably formed from a single length of resilient wire bent upon itself to provide approximately elliptical wing loops 12, the upper side members of the loops being connected by a portion 13 anchored in sleeve portionsld formed by overturning the upper edge portion of the blank by which the body member 2 is formed. Similar sleeve portions 15 are formed at the lower edge of the blank at the opposite sides of the intern'iediate portion thereof and anchor and secure the ends of the lower side members of the said wing loops. These loops 12 are so formed as to assimie substantially the same curved shape as the body member 2 so that the supporting means as a whole will be transversely arcuate as best shown in Figure 8 of the drawings, and the wing members will be adapted to be readily disposed beneath the fold of a turnover collar and lie more or less closely to the portion of the collar which is next adjacentthe neck. 1

In addition to the members above described, the supporting means 2 embraces a knot form member indicated in general by the numeral 16. This member is also preferably formed from a single length of resilient wire and is bent upon itself midway between its ends to provide spaced portions 17 and an intermediate portion 18 which latter portion is bent back upon itself to provide a hook 19 the bill of which is turned rearwardly and upwardly. The side portions 17 of the member 16 diverge in the direction of their upper ends, and their upper end portions are turned inwardly toward each other as indicated by the numeral 2G and pivotally engaged in the opposite ends of a sleeve 21 formed from the material of the body 2 at the lower edge of said body and between the sleeves 15. In this manner the knot form member 16 is supported in such a'inanner as to permit of more or less free'swinging movement in a front and rear direction and, as it is of resilient wire, its side portions 17 may be sprung apart, when desired, to disengage its pintle portions 20 from the end of the sleeve 21. At this point it may be stated that this member-is-to be employed in connection with the body member 2, when the tie members or sections are of such design as to adapt them tobe tied in a four-in-hand style but when the supporting means is employed in supporting tie members or sections which are adapted to be tied in how form, the member 16 may be disconnected and ten'iporarily laid aside.

The tie sections or members above re ferred to are indicated one by the numeral 22 and the other by the numeral 23, and where the sections are to be tied in four-hrh'and form, the member 22 will correspond to the inner or narrow half of the length of an ordinary four-in-hand tie, and the member 23 will correspond to the outer or wider half of the length of such a tie. Each of the members 22 and 23 is formed at one end with a cap 24 of a marginal contour and such dimensions as to adapt it to be fitted over a respective one of the wing members 11, each cap being formed in its inwardly presented wall with an opening 25 through which the wing may be passed. Considered in another aspect, the members 24: constitute pockets receiving the respective wings 11, and the openings 25 therein the mouths of the pockets. The *aps 24, when applied to the wings I], are adapted to completely cover and enclose said wings, and when so applied, the respective tie sections 22 and 23 will be freely suspended from the inneends of the wings.

Assuming that the tie members or sections or 23 are of a form to be tied in a four-inhand style and that the caps of the sections have been properly fitted over the respective wing members 11., the purchaser will lead the upper portion of the section 22 diagonally across the front of the form member 16 and thence about one of the side members 17 and upwardly to substantially the position shown in Figure 4. The other section 23 will then be led diagonally across the front of the looped portion of the section 22 and thence straight across the back of the form and behind the book 18 as illus trated in full lines in Figure 5. The section 22 is then turned downwardly in front of the form and the section 23 is then manipulated in the usual manner to complete the knot. Before thus forming the knot, the attaching member 6 will be disengaged from the sockets 5 so as not to interfere with the proper manipulation of the tie sections 22 and 23, but after the knot has been formed, this member 6 will be again assembled with the body member 2 so that the article in its completed form will appear as in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. In forming the sections 22 and 23 about the form member 16, the said sections will be so arranged that the lower nd of the knot formed therein will engage in the book 19 thus preventing any displacement of the knot with relation to the body member 2. At this point it will be evident that the tie sections 22 and 23 may be knotted and draped in a manner to suit the tastes of the purchaser and that after the sections have been knotted and draped,

they may b permitted to remain in such condition for an indefinite period of time, it being only necessary, in order to apply and remove the article to and from the collar, to engage the member 6 with or disengage the same from the shank of the collar button as usual in articles of this class. It

will also be evident that inasmuch as the caps 24 removably fit the wings 11, tie sections of one kind may be substituted for those of another kind by merely untying the knot and slipping the caps off from the wings and then applying the substitute sections. It will furthermore be evident that while the body member 2 and wings 11 will be held more or less firmly againstthe front of the inner fold of the collar, the form member 16 and the knot formed there about may have a suitable freedom of play or swinging movement so that the knot may assume precisely th same position with relation to the wings of the collar fold as does the knot in a fourin-hand tie tied in the usual manner, thus eliminating the stiff and rigid appearance presented by the knots of neckties of this general class in which the knot of the tie is rigid with relation to the wings of the tie supporting means.

.When it is desired to employ the supporting means in connection with tie sections which are to be tied in the form of a bow, the spaced sides 17 of the member 16 are sprung apart to disengage the pintle portions 20 from the ends of the sleeve 21, and the said member 16 may then be laid aside until again needed. The tie sections of proper form may then be assembled with supporting means and tied in the form of a bow, in the usual manner.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the mechanical details herein illustrated, since manifestly the same can be considerably varied without departure from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

It will be understood that after the tie sections have been properly tied about the formv no portion of the metallic form will be visible when the tie is arranged u on the collar and therefore the article wil have precisely the same appearance as an ordinary tie which has been tied in the customary manner.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. An article of neckwear comprising a supporting means including a body member, lateral wings extending therefrom, and a knot form member depending from the body member, and tie sections having ends applied to the wings, the sections being designed to be tied and knotted about'the body member and knot form member, the said knot form member being provided with a lower terminal hook to engage and support the formed knot and prevent displacement thereof.

2. An article of neckwear comprising a supporting means includin a body member, lateral wings extending t erefrom, and a knot form member depending from the body member, and tie sections having ends applied to the wings, the sections being designed to be tied and knotted about the body member and knot form member, the said knot form member being separably connected with the body member whereby tie sections of a form to be tied in a bow may be substituted for the first mentioned tie sections.

3. An article of neck wear comprising a supporting means including a body member and lateral wings, tie sections having their ends applied to the wings, the sections being tied and knotted about the body member between the wings, the body member being provided with spaced sockets, and a button engaging attaching member formed from a single length of wire having its intermediate portion bent to provide a clip to engage the shank of a button, the'end portions of the strand comprising said member being'exprovided at its tended generally in opposite directions and provided at their extremities with portions removably engageable in said sockets, the

vmember swingingly connected with the body member and depending from the same.

5. An article of neck wear comprising a supporting means including a body member and lateral wings, and a tie knot forming member swingingly connected with the body member and depending from the same and lower end with a hook to engage and support a tie knot formed thereon.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- ELWIN P. ADAMS. 1 3. 

